Cancers which involve cells generated during hematopoiesis, a process by which cellular elements of blood, such as leukocytes, lymphocytes, natural killer cells, plasma cells, and myeloid cells such as neutrophils and monocytes are generated, are referred to as hematopoietic malignancies. Lymphocytes which can be found in blood and lymphatic tissue and are critical for immune response are categorized into two main classes of lymphocytes: B lymphocytes (B cells) and T lymphocytes (T cells), which mediate humoral and cellular immunity, respectively. B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immune response (as opposed to the cell-mediated immune response, which is governed by T cells). The principal functions of B cells are to make antibodies against antigens, perform the role of Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) and eventually develop into memory B cells after activation by antigen interaction. B cells are an essential component of the adaptive immune system. B cells mature within the bone marrow and leave the marrow expressing an antigen-binding antibody on their cell surface. When a naive B cell first encounters the antigen for which its membrane-bound antibody is specific, the cell begins to divide rapidly and its progeny differentiate into memory B cells and effector cells called “plasma cells”. Memory B cells have a longer life span and continue to express membrane-bound antibody with the same specificity as the original parent cell. Plasma cells do not produce membrane-bound antibody but instead produce the antibody in a form that can be secreted. Secreted antibodies are the major effector molecules of humoral immunity.
The non-Hodgkin lymphomas are a diverse group of hematopoietic malignancies which encompass any lymphoma other than Hodgkin lymphoma. Lymphoma is a type of cancer derived from lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Many subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma have been described; these are generally grouped by their aggressiveness. Less aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas may be chronic diseases which exist for many years, while more aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas can be rapidly fatal without treatment. Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are treated by combinations of chemotherapy, monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapy, radiation, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Lymphoma is a type of neoplasm that originates in lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system) and in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node (a tumor). Lymphomas are closely related to lymphoid leukemias, which also originate in lymphocytes but do not form solid tumors. There are many types of lymphomas, and in turn, lymphomas are a part of the broad group of hematopoietic malignancies called hematological neoplasms.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) comprises a heterogeneous group of malignant clonal disorders of hematopoietic stem cells committed to the myeloid linage development. There is a block in normal hematopoietic differentiation, often combined with deregulation of proliferation and apoptosis. This leads to progressive insufficiency of the normal hematopoiesis ensuing in anemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. AML accounts for about 80% of all adult leukemia, and its overall incidence has been stable or slowly increasing over the past 15-20 years. The prognosis of AML remains poor, with an overall 5-year survival rate of 15-30%, while patients with AML arising out of myelodysplastic syndrome or who are aged above 60 years have an even worse prognosis with less than 10% survival at 5 years (Smith M. et al (2004) Crit. Rev. Oncol. Hematol. 50:197-222). The standard therapeutic approach for AML patients is high-dose chemotherapy, mainly consisting of cytarabine (Ara-C) and an anthracycline antibiotic such as daunorubicin or idarubicin. Usually, AML responds to initial chemotherapy, but disease relapse occurs in most patients. While results of AML treatment have improved in younger patients who can tolerate intensified treatment strategies, there have been limited changes in outcome among individuals who are above 60 years of age. The limit of acceptable toxicity for standard chemotherapeutic drugs used in AML has been reached. A significant unmet need therefore remains for new, rationally designed, minimally toxic, and effective therapies for AML (Fathi A. T. and Karp J. E. (2009) Curr. Oncol. Rep. 11:346-352; Stapnes et al (2009) Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 18:433-455).
Combinations of anti-cancer pharmaceutical therapeutics administered simultaneously or sequentially in a dosing regimen are now common in cancer treatment. Successful combination therapy provides improved and even synergistic effect over mono-therapy, i.e. pharmaceutical treatment limited to one drug (Ouchi et al (2006) Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 57:693-702; Higgins et al (2004) Anti-Cancer Drugs 15:503-512). Preclinical research has been the basis for prediction of clinical stage synergy of anti-cancer pharmaceutical therapeutic combinations such as capecitabine and taxanes for the treatment of breast cancer (Sawada et al (1998) Clin. Cancer Res. 4:1013-1019). Certain doses and schedules of combination therapy can improve safety without compromising efficacy (O'Shaughnessy et al (2006) Clin. Breast Cancer April 7(1):42-50). Synergistic effects in vitro have been correlated with clinical stage synergy (Steinbach et al (2003) Clin. Inf. Dis. October 1:37 Suppl 3:S188-224).
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (PI3K) is a major signaling node for key survival and growth signals for lymphomas and is opposed by the activity of the phosphatase PTEN. The PI3K pathway is dysregulated in aggressive forms of lymphoma (Abubaker (2007) Leukemia 21:2368-2370). Eight percent of DLBCL (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma) cancers have PI3CA (phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase catalytic subunit alpha) missense mutations and 37% are PTEN negative by immunohistochemistry test.
Phosphatidylinositol is one of a number of phospholipids found in cell membranes, and which participate in intracellular signal transduction. Cell signaling via 3′-phosphorylated phosphoinositides has been implicated in a variety of cellular processes, e.g., malignant transformation, growth factor signaling, inflammation, and immunity (Rameh et al (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274:8347-8350). The enzyme responsible for generating these phosphorylated signaling products, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (also referred to as PI 3-kinase or PI3K), was originally identified as an activity associated with viral oncoproteins and growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases that phosphorylate phosphatidylinositol (PI) and its phosphorylated derivatives at the 3′-hydroxyl of the inositol ring (Panayotou et al (1992) Trends Cell Biol 2:358-60). Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) are lipid kinases that phosphorylate lipids at the 3-hydroxyl residue of an inositol ring (Whitman et al (1988) Nature, 332:664). The 3-phosphorylated phospholipids (PIP3s) generated by PI3-kinases act as second messengers recruiting kinases with lipid binding domains (including plekstrin homology (PH) regions), such as Akt and PDK1, phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (Vivanco et al (2002) Nature Rev. Cancer 2:489; Phillips et al (1998) Cancer 83:41).
The PI3 kinase family comprises at least 15 different enzymes sub-classified by structural homology and are divided into 3 classes based on sequence homology and the product formed by enzyme catalysis. The class I PI3 kinases are composed of 2 subunits: a 110 kd catalytic subunit and an 85 kd regulatory subunit. The regulatory subunits contain SH2 domains and bind to tyrosine residues phosphorylated by growth factor receptors with a tyrosine kinase activity or oncogene products, thereby inducing the PI3K activity of the p110 catalytic subunit which phosphorylates its lipid substrate. Class I PI3 kinases are involved in important signal transduction events downstream of cytokines, integrins, growth factors and immunoreceptors, which suggests that control of this pathway may lead to important therapeutic effects such as modulating cell proliferation and carcinogenesis. Class I PI3Ks can phosphorylate phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-biphosphate (PIP2) to produce phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PIP), phosphatidylinositol-3,4-biphosphate, and phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate, respectively. Class II PI3Ks phosphorylate PI and phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate. Class III PI3Ks can only phosphorylate PI. A key PI3-kinase isoform in cancer is the Class I PI3-kinase, p110α as indicated by recurrent oncogenic mutations in p110α (Samuels et al (2004) Science 304:554). (U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,492; U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,824; U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,327). Other isoforms may be important in cancer and are also implicated in cardiovascular and immune-inflammatory disease (Workman P (2004) Biochem Soc Trans 32:393-396; Patel et al (2004) Proc. Am. Assoc. of Cancer Res. (Abstract LB-247) 95th Annual Meeting, March 27-31, Orlando, Fla., USA; Ahmadi K and Waterfield M D (2004) “Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase: Function and Mechanisms” Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry (Lennarz W J, Lane M D eds) Elsevier/Academic Press), Oncogenic mutations of p110 alpha have been found at a significant frequency in colon, breast, brain, liver, ovarian, gastric, lung, and head and neck solid tumors. PTEN abnormalities are found in glioblastoma, melanoma, prostate, endometrial, ovarian, breast, lung, head and neck, hepatocellular, and thyroid cancers.
PI3 kinase is a heterodimer consisting of p85 and p110 subunits (Otsu et al (1991) Cell 65:91-104; Hiles et al (1992) Cell 70:419-29). Four distinct Class I PI3Ks have been identified, designated PI3K α (alpha), β (beta), δ (delta), and ω (gamma), each consisting of a distinct 110 kDa catalytic subunit and a regulatory subunit. Three of the catalytic subunits, i.e., p110 alpha, p110 beta and p110 delta, each interact with the same regulatory subunit, p85; whereas p110 gamma interacts with a distinct regulatory subunit, p101. The patterns of expression of each of these PI3Ks in human cells and tissues are distinct. In each of the PI3K alpha, beta, and delta subtypes, the p85 subunit acts to localize PI3 kinase to the plasma membrane by the interaction of its SH2 domain with phosphorylated tyrosine residues (present in an appropriate sequence context) in target proteins (Rameh et al (1995) Cell, 83:821-30; Volinia et al (1992) Oncogene, 7:789-93).
The PI3 kinase/Akt/PTEN pathway is an attractive target for cancer drug development since such agents would be expected to inhibit cellular proliferation, to repress signals from stromal cells that provide for survival and chemoresistance of cancer cells, to reverse the repression of apoptosis and surmount intrinsic resistance of cancer cells to cytotoxic agents. PI3 kinase inhibitors have been reported (Yaguchi et al (2006) Jour. of the Nat. Cancer Inst. 98(8):545-556; U.S. Pat. No. 7,173,029; U.S. Pat. No. 7,037,915; U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,056; U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,053; U.S. Pat. No. 6,838,457; U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,641; U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,320; U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,588; WO 2006/046031; WO 2006/046035; WO 2006/046040; WO 2007/042806; WO 2007/042810; WO 2004/017950; US 2004/092561; WO 2004/007491; WO 2004/006916; WO 2003/037886; US 2003/149074; WO 2003/035618; WO 2003/034997; US 2003/158212; EP 1417976; US 2004/053946; JP 2001247477; JP 08175990; JP 08176070). Wortmannin analogs have PI3 kinase activity in mammals (U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,414; WO 97/15658).
Thienopyrimidine compounds of Formula I have p110 alpha binding, PI3 kinase inhibitory activity, and inhibit the growth of cancer cells (US 2008/0207611; US 2008/0039459; US 2008/0076768; US 2008/0076758; US 2008/0242665; US 2008/0269210.

An exemplary Formula I compound, GDC-0941 (CAS Reg. No. 957054-30-7, Genentech Inc.), is a selective, orally bioavailable inhibitor of PI3K with promising pharmacokinetic and pharmaceutical properties (Folkes et al (2008) Jour. of Med. Chem. 51(18):5522-5532; US 2008/0076768; Belvin et al, American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2008, 99th: April 15, Abstract 4004; Folkes et al, American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2008, 99th: April 14, Abstract LB-146; Friedman et al, American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2008, 99th: April 14, Abstract LB-110). The exemplary Formula I compound, GDC-0941, shows synergistic activity in vitro and in vivo in combination with certain chemotherapeutic agents against solid tumor cell lines (U.S. Ser. No. 12/208,227, Belvin et al “Combinations Of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Inhibitor Compounds And Chemotherapeutic Agents, And Methods Of Use”, filed 10 Sep. 2008).